NIOO has a vigorous and long-standing commitment to societal impact. Not only is NIOO housed in a sustainable building designed to translate our ecological principles in terms of architecture and construction, we also have a number of units that are tailor-made for disseminating our ecological knowledge to specific target groups, we have a very active outreach policy, and we actively involve citizens in our research through large-scale citizen-science projects.

Healthy surface water and soils are essential for life on earth. They provide a range of life-supporting functions, including carbon storage, oxygen generation, and nutrient cycling. At NIOO, we combine research on the ecosystem services provided to society with research on how these ecosystem services are impacted by society.